Proposed law would penalize repeat DUI offenders

Staff photos by Tom Kelly IV
Liam Crowley, 24, of Tredyffrin, was riding his Triumph motorcycle when he was hit and later died from injuries late May 3 on Route 202 at Stanton Avenue in Westtown. Crowley’s cycle T-boned a pickup truck driven by Robert Elwood Landis, 49, of Westtown. Landis was uninjured in the crash and has been charged with DUI, vehicular homicide and related offenses, and police say he was driving with a suspended license from a prior DUI.

The recent death of a 24-year-old motorcyclist in a crash with an accused drunken driver with seven previous DUI convictions has renewed local conversation about the dangers of drunken driving and its legal punishment.

Liam Crowley of the Chesterbrook section of Tredyffrin died on April 28, two days after his motorcycle was struck by a pickup truck operated by 49-year-old Robert Landis, according to police.

Earlier this week, Landis was charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI and related offenses in connection to Crowley’s death. It was the eighth time the Westtown construction worker was charged with DUI since 1982.

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Court records indicate Landis was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 percent on the night of the crash.

Crowley’s death and Landis’ subsequent arrest raises questions about why Landis was on the road that night. Police said he was driving with a suspended license. His pickup truck was not registered or insured. According to court records, Landis was free on parole for a 2009 DUI conviction that landed him a prison sentence of 18 months to four years.

According to a criminal complaint filed by police, after the crash investigators found two letters from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Landis’ vehicle informing him that he would need to apply for an ignition interlock system if he wanted to restore his license. The letters were opened, police said, but there is no record Landis ever made an attempt to engage in the ignition interlock program.

Landis’ history of DUIs and other, darker chapters of his past – he was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 1981 in connection to the accidental shooting death of a young woman inside his home – were met with anger, disgust, and calls for change. In numerous online comments and public conversations, many members of the community displayed their belief that current impaired driving laws do not go far enough to deter and punish DUI offenders.

Crowley’s mother, Diane, posed similar questions outside of district court the day Landis was arraigned on homicide charges for the death of her son.

“We need to ask the big questions. How and why this crime was able to happen?” Diane Crowley said. “None of us are immune to a tragedy like this. If your loved one is a victim or an offender, the aftermath is the same. Lives are destroyed and we all need to work to find answers so this does not happen.”

As it turns out, a group of state legislators appear to agree with the sentiment. House Bill 188, introduced in January, would increase penalties for multiple time DUI offenders, especially those who drive while seriously impaired.

“The bill obviously predated the tragedy locally, but the young man’s death reminded us of the dangers of impaired driving,” said state Rep. Duane Milne, R-167th of Willistown, who cosponsors the bill along with 12 other state representatives.

Milne said he feels the state’s current DUI laws are “woefully insufficient,” adding that the proposed legislation is designed not only to increase penalties for repeat offenders, but also to provide a deterrent for those who habitually drive while drunk.

Milne described the behavior as “serial drunkenness,” and said more needs to be done to prevent tragedies like the one that took Crowley’s life.

“It’s not fair to the public at large when these serial drunks are not going to restrain themselves,” Milne said, adding that he would support the institution of ignition interlocks after an individual’s second DUI conviction. “I think it would save lives, it literally prevents the vehicle from moving if the drive cannot pass their own breathalyzer test.”

If passed, the bill would increase penalties for third- and fourth-time offenders of lower-tier DUIs — with a blood-alcohol content of 0.10 to 0.159 percent — and for second- and third-time offenders in the upper tier — 0.16 percent or higher. The bill also creates new penalties for people convicted of a lower-tier offense for the fourth time.

The bill largely increases the amount of fines, the length of license suspensions, and strengthens ignition interlock requirements. It would also upgrade the grade of penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the tier of intoxication and number of previous convictions.

Offenders with four convictions of the most serious tier would be hit the hardest if the bill becomes law. The fourth conviction would grade as a second degree felony and come with a minimum two year prison sentence, a $15,000 to $20,000 fine, a 36-month license suspension, and a mandatory ignition interlock requirement for life.

Unfortunately even that may not prove enough, Milne conceded. If an offender is willing to take the risk of driving with a suspended license in an unregistered vehicle, there are few ways to keep them off the road.

“At some level that is one of the only recourses left, is significant prison time. There really isn’t much else that can be done,” Milne said.

The bill is currently in the state legislature’s transportation committee. Milne said there was no current timetable for the bill to be discussed or voted upon.